CENTER VALLEY – Putting in the hard work – especially in the off-season – really pays off.

Just ask Northwestern’s Matt Santana.

On Wednesday, the Tiger senior put all his hard work to the test over the 3.1-mile DeSales University cross country course in the Colonial League championships.

In the end, Santana came away with his second straight silver medal - finishing behind only defending league champion Thomas Smigo of Palisades.

Santana’s wasn’t just celebrating his strong individual performance, however, he also got to enjoy being part of Northwestern’s third straight team championship.

“I’m very excited right now,” said Santana, who finished 21 seconds behind the leader. “We had to work hard this year because we lost three out of our top-five from last year’s team.

“So some of our other guys who were in the back of the lineup last season had to work a bit harder in the summer and they did. It turned out well for us.”

In addition to Santana, the Tigers got strong performances from Samuel Bower (4th), Sean Kershner (19th), Xander Giandomenico (21st) and Zachary Santana (23rd) to edge second-place Palmerton for the team title.

With a Colonial League three-peat taken care of, the Tigers will now look for a third straight District 11 title next Wednesday.

“It’s definitely going to be tough, but there’s that chance,” Bower said. “We know teams like Palmerton, are coming for us. But we just have to stay focused and be ready.”

Leading the way for Bombers was senior Owen Hibell, who finished in third place.

“I knew I could finish in the top four, but I really wanted to be in the top three,” said Hibell. “I also wanted to break 17 minutes. I was just a little over that (17:02.23), but I’m still very happy with how I ran.”

Owen’s younger brother Connor Hibell finished in 5th place, while Aaron Simpson (22nd), Jeremy Salvaggio (31st) and Jordan Mann (40th) also contributed to the Bombers’ second place team showing.

In the girls race, Moravian Academy’s Virginia Krauss captured the individual title. Northwestern’s Angelina Klein had the best area performance with an 11th place finish.

“I really wanted to be in top 10,” said Klein, who finished in a time of 20:48.84. “But I can’t be too upset with my finish since I did set a new PR. I didn’t get a medal today, but I still feel happy I was able to come here and PR today. So it was all good.”

Among other local runners, Northern Lehigh freshman Emma Heil finished in 16th, Northwestern sophomore Sophia Cornell was 20th, and Palmerton freshman Emma Rex was 23rd.

BOYS

Team standings and legend

1.Northwestern (NW) 64, 2. Palmerton (Palm) 71, 3. Southern Lehigh (SL) 74, 4. Notre Dame of Green Pond (NDGP) 77, 5. Wilson (W) 90, 6. Moravian Academy (MA) 157, 7. Bangor (B) 206, 8. Salisbury (S) 221, 9. Saucon Valley (SV) 233, 10. Catasauqua (C) 292.

INDIVIDUAL

(top 5 plus other locals in the top 50)

1.Thomas Smigo (Pali) 16:30.14, 2. Matthew Santana (NW) 16:51.11, 3. Owen Hibell (Palm) 17:02.23, 4. Samuel Bower (NW) 17:13.29, 5. Connor Hibell (Palm) 17:18.39; 16. Dylan Hartranft (Palm) 18:18.32, 19. Sean Kershner (NW) 18:24.98, 21. Xander Giandomenico (NW) 18:35.63, 22. Aaron Simpson (Palm) 18:36.71, 23. Zachary Santana (NW) 18:41.53, 31. Jeremy Salvaggio (Palm) 19:09;74, 39. William Green (NW) 19:32.09, 40. Jordan Mann (Palm) 19:43.04, 45. Alex Saas (Palm) 20:25.53, 47. Sean Jahelka (Palm) 20:34.07, 48. Jonathan Fornauf (NW) 20:35.40, 50. Carson Mesics (NW) 20:47.10.

GIRLS

Team standings and legend

1.Notre Dame of Green Pond (NDGP) 39, 2. Southern Lehigh (SL) 48, 3. Northwestern (NW) 106, 4. Saucon Valley (SV) 108, 5. Wilson (W) 141, 6. Northern Lehigh (NL) 187, 7. Catasauqua (C) 214, 8. Bangor (B) 229, 9. Palisades (Pali) 232, 10. Moravian Acad. (MA) 250, 11. Pen Argyl (PA) 288.

INDIVIDUAL

(top 5 plus other locals in the top 50)

1.Virginia Kraus (MA) 18:54.56, 2. Avery Errico (W) 19:36.96, 3. Maura Lenhart (SL) 19:46.06, 4. Ella Schweitzer (NDGP) 19:58.49, 5. Katherine Koons (NDGP) 20:07.54, 11. Angelina Klein (NW) 20:48.84, 12. 16. Emma Heil (NL) 21:29.74, 20. Sophia Cornell (NW) 21:56.34, 23. Emma Rex (Palm) 22:15.02, 24. Kellcey Pedron (NW) 22:15.65, 28. Haley DuBois (NW) 22:27.18, 32. Natalie Mosier (Palm) 22:41.96, 35. Ava Smedstad (NW) 23:10.10, 36. Cora Wentz (Palm) 23:16.52, 37. Sophia Penny (NW) 23:18.66, 40. Maci Fisher (NW) 23:30.97, 41. Delaney Szwast (NL) 23:31.38, 46. Kathryn Griffith (NW) 24:13.24, 49. Devon Heinly (NW) 24:48.83, 50. Haylie Fenstermaker (NL) 24:53.67.